Lowest-degree robust finite element schemes for inhomogeneous bi-Laplace problems.

In this paper, we study the numerical method for the bi-Laplace problems with inhomogeneous coefficients; particularly, we propose finite element schemes on rectangular grids respectively for an inhomogeneous fourth-order elliptic singular perturbation problem and for the Helmholtz transmission eigenvalue problem. The new methods use the reduced rectangle Morley (RRM for short) element space with piecewise quadratic polynomials, which are of the lowest degree possible. For the finite element space, a discrete analogue of an equality by Grisvard is proved for the stability issue and a locally-averaged interpolation operator is constructed for the approximation issue. Optimal convergence rates of the schemes are proved, and numerical experiments are given to verify the theoretical analysis. • A discrete analogue of an equality (1.3) by Grisvard [1] on H 2 functions is proved for the reduced rectangular Morley (RRM for short in the sequel) element functions. This discrete equality makes the RRM space usable for bi-Laplacian problems with inhomogeneous coefficients. • Based on piecewise quadratic polynomials, the RRM scheme is the lowest-degree finite element scheme for the inhomogeneous bi-Laplace problems. Compared to other kinds of methods, it does not need tuning parameter or using indirect differential operators. • As revealed by [3] , the RRM element space does not admit a locally-defined projective interpolator. In this paper, however, a locally-defined stable interpolator (not projective) is carefully constructed for the RRM element space, and an optimal approximation is proved rigorously on both convex and nonconvex domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]